Why 'The Best Years of Our Lives' Is the Only Movie to Watch on Veterans Day

The Best Years of Our Lives is not a war movie. It’s a veterans movie. The protagonists are three men who find themselves on the same plane returning home from their service in World War II to Boone City, somewhere in the United States. In the opening minutes, they are excited at the prospect of going home—and yet these moments they are with one another, one foot still in the camaraderie of the military are among the happiest we see them for the entire film.

There’s Al (Frederic March), a married man who returns to find that he doesn’t really know his family any more—his two kids have changed so much in his absence. Fred (Dana Andrews), who flew in bombers and now sees that his quick marriage to a bombshell isn’t much of a marriage. And Homer (Harold Russell), who lost both hands in the war and now uses metal hooks. He worries that the girl who has been waiting for his return won’t want him this way.

After years of rah-rah movies released during the war, this 1946 film—written by Robert Sherwood and directed magnificently by William Wyler (Ben-Hur, Roman Holiday)—stands out for its quiet, persistent effort to explore the pain, confusion, and panic that can mark a person’s returning home from war. It aims to be real. Wyler’s patient direction, and the memorable performances by the three male leads, turn what seem like unremarkable events (the men look for work, they drink at a bar, they eat) into a riveting, and often heartbreaking, story.

The film was a huge box-office success and won eight Oscars—including two for veteran Harold Russell.

The heroics in this military movie are quiet. For Al, Fred, and Homer, surviving each day in a world they don’t quite understand is a relentless challenge. In one particularly beautiful scene, Fred’s job search takes him to an airport. He finds himself in a field out back, wandering among the kinds of mighty aircraft he flew to help win the war, but are now parked in silence, a kind of airplane graveyard. They are no longer needed, which is how these three men feel, too. (This feeling continues today, which has led some veterans of recent wars to help each other find meaningful work.)

Other movies have explored the difficulties of veterans returning home. Coming Home, Born on the Fourth of July, even Forrest Gump. But for Wyler, and producer Samuel Goldwyn, rolling out this film just months after the Allied victory stands out as an act of courage. It became a box-office success and won eight Oscars—two of which went to Russell, who actually did lose his hands during the war while handling TNT. The story goes that, even though Russell was nominated for best supporting actor, the Academy didn’t think he would win, so they devised a special award for him for his courage in simply appearing in the film. Turns out he would go home with both.

The film, in the end, lifts you up. But not before telling you an unforgettable story about three men whose struggles likely resonate with veterans of any war, in any place.

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